A native of Toronto, Ont., Damiani brings more than five years of basketball operations experience from the NBLC. He first worked under Julius with the Mississauga Power in 2014-15 and then joined the Kitchener-Waterloo (KW) Titans as the club’s assistant general manager in 2016-17. Damiani spent three total seasons with the Titans before joining the Formosa Dreamers as an advance scout in the fall of 2019 to support Julius’ basketball operations staff in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL).
Joining Damiani on the staff is Singleton, who has a similar track record of success and rapport with Julius. Singleton has coached professionally in New Zealand, Vietnam and Indonesia. In particular, Singleton served as the Head Coach and General Manager of the Cantho Catfish in the Vietnam Basketball Association (VBA) during the 2016 campaign. Singleton then joined the Saigon Heat as the lead assistant coach on Julius’ staff in the ABL for two seasons from 2017-2019. Specializing in video coordination and player development, Singleton became the Heat’s head coach for its 2019 campaign and led the team to its first VBA championship with recently signed Bandit Tavarion Nix at the Heat’s helm.
Bolstering the Bandits’ scouting corps is Smith, who is currently an assistant coach for Basquete Unifacisa in Novo Basquete Brasil, the first division league of Brazil’s Liga Nacional de Basquete. The 2018-19 season was Smith’s first year with the club and he helped the team win its first Liga Ouro (second division) championship thanks to a top four offensive and defensive ranking. Following the championship, the team was promoted to the first division where they were preparing for the playoffs prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the cancellation of the season.
The San Ramon, Calif., native is the eighth basketball coach in a family that has dedicated itself to the game for generations. The members of his family’s coaching lineage extend from the high school level to the WNBA. Smith’s grandfather, Fred Smith, was drafted in 1968 to the Milwaukee Bucks. Smith specializes in both player development and scouting. He got his start coaching Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball with the North Bay Basketball Academy (California) and the Erik Spoelstra Basketball Academy (Miami, Fla.). He has also worked as a scout for PrepHoops Northern California, evaluating youth basketball talent with prospective collegiate potential.
Stu Julius will serve as a senior advisor on his son Kyle’s staff. Stu has a decorated basketball lineage that spans various levels of Canadian professional basketball. Stu joined the Lakehead Thunderwolves program in 1981 and served as head coach of the women’s basketball team for 18 years. He was named coach of the year twice during his tenure as head coach at Lakehead.
Lakehead missed the playoffs just once under Julius’ watch as he amassed an impressive coaching record of 311-250 with the Thunderwolves.
He led the Thunderwolves to nationals twice and took the mantle as athletic director in 1991. Over the course of eight years as athletic director, the Thunderwolves hosted nationals four times between 1995 and 1997-1999. Julius was inducted onto the Lakehead athletics department’s wall of fame in 2013.
Following his time at Lakehead, Julius joined Wilfrid Laurier University’s women’s basketball program in 1999 as the team’s head coach. He led the Golden Hawks for nine seasons. Under Julius’ guidance, the Golden Hawks won a provincial silver medal and advanced to the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS, now known as U SPORTS) championships in 2002-03 and 2003-04. For his efforts, Julius was named Ontario University Athletics (OUA) West Division Coach of the Year in 2002-03.
Since moving on from Canadian university sport, Julius has worked in the NBLC, both as an assistant coach with the Mississauga Power during the 2014-15 season, as general manager of the KW Titans in 2016-17, and as a performance consultant for the St. John’s Edge in 2018-19.
For more information on the Bandits, follow the team’s journey on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Andrew Savory, Director of Operations, (604) 217-6213, asavory@thebandits.ca
About the Fraser Valley Bandits
The Fraser Valley Bandits are British Columbia’s professional basketball team. As the westernmost club in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL), the club is proud to call Abbotsford Centre home. The Bandits offer a riveting entertainment experience that combines a fast-paced game day atmosphere with a presentation of some of Canada’s top professional athletes within a world-class venue. Head to thebandits.ca for more information.
About the Canadian Elite Basketball League
Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) is a new basketball experience that features world-class professional basketball in a fan-friendly entertainment environment across seven cities in Canada. The 2019 inaugural season saw more than 100 Canadian and international players take to the court, culminating with the Saskatchewan Rattlers earning the first CEBL championship trophy. CEBL players come from NBA G League clubs, top NCAA programs, the Canadian national program, U SPORTS and other Division 1 FIBA leagues. As the First Division Professional League Partner of Canada Basketball, all games are live-streamed by CBC Sports. This season, the CEBL’s seven teams will convene at the Meridian Centre in St. Catharines, Ont., starting July 15 to play the CEBL Summer Series, a round robin competition that will culminate in crowning the second-year league’s 2020 champion. Commencing July 25, the Summer Series will make the CEBL the first professional league in Canada to return to play following the COVID-19 outbreak in March. Head to cebl.ca or follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to learn more.